Instruction Guide: Getting in Gear

This lesson introduces students to the concept of gearing up and gearing down to trade off speed and power (torque). Students learn to calculate a gear ratio using multiplication of fractions. An advanced lesson which introduces compound gearing is also available.

The illustration shows a modified tribot structure with a gear ratio of one

With this same structure (axle spacing) the 12 and 20 tooth gears shown could be used to gear up or gear down the tribot

How could the other gears in the NXT kit be used to gear up/down?

Note: There is no lesson-level summative assessment for this basic gearing lesson (although the extended lesson, below, does have an included challenge). The assessment for this learning is intended to be demonstrated in the subsequent STEM Robotics 101 "Engineering Challenge #1" lesson.

The Advanced Gearing PPTtakes gearing to the next level by introducing Complex and Compound Gearing. This presentation also includes a compound gearing challenge.